Innocence_ Laura K. and Victor C._ Rated M
I do not own the X-Men, X-23, Sabretooth or any other Marvel characters presented in this story. They are all property of Marvel Comics Inc. its corporations and affiliates. X-23 is property of Craig Kyle.
Chapter 1: Captive Hearts
I am X-23. I am also Laura Kinney. I am the twenty-third embryo created by the Facility in a project designed to clone the mutant Weapon X. I am legally the daughter of Deborah Kinney and James Howlett a.k.a Logan a.k.a Wolverine a.k.a Weapon X. At thirteen I killed my creators, including my own mother, Dr. Sarah Kinney. I am trained in the skills necessary to track and kill any target anywhere at any time. I am a student at Xavier's Institute for Higher Learning. I am a member of the mutant militia, X-Force. I am a girl trying to protect a world that fears and hates me. I am a weapon. I am a child. I am a daughter. I am a monster.
To hear all these things about myself, I once assumed that I had no good in me. I was evil through and through. However, living under the tutelage of my aunt, who is also the woman who is listed legally on my birth certificate as my mother, and my genetic provider and adopted father, I have learned that I do have good in my soul. I have always known I possessed bad. I am a living paradox, a woman struggling to find the balance between the human and the animal in her soul. My aunt taught me to believe all people were like that, some just refused to acknowledge the struggle.
Today I believe she is wrong. Today I have met a man that I believe has no good in him anywhere. I know that many of his targets had no attachment to him, emotional or physical but he killed them anyway, without provocation and without orders. He was part of the Weapon X program with my father Wolverine, but he was too unstable to be considered a weapon or a soldier. Like Wolverine and me, he is good at killing people. Unlike us, he enjoys killing people.
Today I have met Victor Creed a.k.a Sabretooth. Today I meet the man that proves that no God exists, for if He did, he would not make such a creation.
We rescued him from one of Bastion's mutant camps where he was experimented on. We brought him back to our headquarters in the Rocky Mountains where Josh Foley a.k.a Elixir has been attempting to heal him, as his own healing factor has been pushed beyond what it can normally stand. Elixir is only allowed near him because I am with him, and Wolverine believes I can restrain Sabretooth. I hope he is not mistaken.
He twitches and I am by Elixir's side before he calls to me. I look at Sabretooth and collect as much visual data on the subject as I can. He is tall, estimated six-foot eleven to seven-foot tall. He is approximately three hundred pounds with only a three percent body fat ratio in his weight making the rest muscle tone. His claws are not adamantium, yet they are stronger than most metals and neither do they retract. They are part of his natural physiology, as part of his fingernails. Despite Elixir's propensity for healing himself from attacks by opponents that out-class him, I can see he is no match for Sabretooth.
"I can handle him, Josh. You go to bed. I need to assess how hostile Sabretooth is with a solitary caretaker in the room and formulate a prediction on how to best protect you and him from his animalistic bloodlust." I tell Elixir. He looks at me with a knowing look in his eyes. There are very few people in this world who know when I am lying, maybe less than one dozen. Elixir is one of them. He is more than my teammate. He is my friend, probably one of my closest since Cessily and Julian have pushed me away. He was also my lover.
"Laura, I don't know if that is a good idea. You need your rest too. You're still recovering from the incident with Kimaura. Dr. McCoy told you to take it easy, remember? Going ten rounds with Sabretooth isn't exactly taking it easy." He said in his gentlest voice. I knew he was trying to protect me, but there were some things I just had to know.
"I promise I will keep his restraints on, Josh. I will come to bed shortly" I answered curtly still leaving my X-23 mask on. He knew it was no good fighting with me when I was in that state.
"Okay, Laura, you win. But, if you're not in bed by eleven 'o clock I'm going to send Angel down to get you" he threatened before walking out of the room. As soon as I heard him leave the medical bay, I walked over to the control console and turned off the security cameras. Then, as not to raise suspicion, I fed them a feed of me sitting my Sabretooth's bedside occasionally checking his I.V. Vanisher was on security duty tonight. He would not notice the loop like Wolverine and Domino would. I turned back toward Sabretooth's bed.
"I know you are not asleep. You have been conscious for the last 52.3 minutes. I noticed the spike in your pulse before you forced it low again." I said placing my hands on my hips in what I knew from Julian's descriptions was "a very intimidating stare". Slowly the restrained prisoner opened his eyes and stared at me.
"Well I'll be! Is this the little girl that turned the Weapon X world on its head? You grew up a bit from the last time I saw you, darlin', and guess what? You filled out nice." He drawled licking his lips. He was referring to my first mission when I posed as the Kingpin's daughter at the age of eight. I was called Samantha Fisk then. The undercover operation took nearly six months. I had briefly met Sabretooth when he had threatened my "father" in his office while we were going over safety plans. That was ten years ago.
"Sabretooth I have many questions for you, but my first is: what do you prefer to be called Victor Creed or Sabretooth?" I asked briskly. I needed to make him comfortable enough to give me the answers I needed.
"Jimmy was the last person to ever genuinely call me 'Victor'. Might be nice to hear it again from the lips of a pretty lady." He said wolfishly. I nodded. By "Jimmy" he was referring to Wolverine in a variant of his given name, James. "What is your name, princess?"
"Samantha is fine" I said using a name he already knew me by to make him comfortable. He laughed.
"Really, Sammy? Cos I coulda swore I heard golden boy call you 'Laura'?" He said flexing against his restraints. I could smell his arousal on him. Either he found my body physically attractive or his animalistic instincts were taking over. Either way he was enjoying taunting me.
"My legal name is Laura." I answered him. No need to let him know my emotional connection with my name. Between us, it was just a designation.
"A lot prettier than 'Samantha', I'll tell you that right now" he growled I unsheathed my claws and got into a fighting position.
"What did Kimaura take from me when I was in Facility custody in the past six months?" I asked him. He was not present at my kidnapping, nor my torture or escape, but his scent was in the facility at approximately the time of my arrival. He would know what she wanted.
"Some of your ovum cells." He answered seeing that our banter had ended. He became Weapon X's soldier once more.
"She plans to clone me?" I asked formulating a plan already to stop such a horrid thing from occurring. Sabretooth shook his head.
"No. She wants to combine your DNA with another powerful mutant. Basically she wants to create your son or daughter." He said. I jumped to stand at the edge of his bed.
"Where is she and how can I stop her?" I growled. Kimaura could not be allowed to do to another child what she did with me. I would kill my child before I would let it live that way.
"Well I could track her for you, but what would I get out of it?" he asked smirking. I snarled and held my claws to his throat.
"You would live" I said simply. His eyes flashed with an emotion I had seen in Kimaura's eyes many times. Joy. Joy at the thought of the kill at the thought of domination. He burst out of his restraints. I needed time to reformulate a plan.
"No need to play possum with you anymore, huh, princess?" He said quickly grabbing me around the waist. I sliced at him as much as I could but he healed from the wounds "Settle we're gonna go find your momma and stop her." I froze.
"My creator/birth mother is Dr. Sarah Kinney. My legal mother is Sarah Kinney's sister Deborah Kinney." I said and Sabretooth put his face in his hand.
"I wasn't supposed to tell you that." He said sighing. "Okay, I guess it's time to tell you the whole deal, huh princess?"
I nodded and he set me down on my feet. I stared up at him and inhaled his scent. It did not change. He was not lying. He finally took his face out of his hand and stared down at me.
"Sarah Kinney is the woman who created you. Her chromosomes filled the missing links within Jimmy's DNA, which gave you a slightly different physique than Jimmy's" He began slowly checking my eyes to see if I believed him. "For example, If you were solely Jimmy's clone, you would have blue eyes but you don't. Who do you know who had such pretty green peepers?"
"So you are saying Dr. Kinney is not just my creator, she is my biological mother?" I asked him sitting on the edge of his bed. Sabretooth stood over me.
"Well not exactly. If you were to take a genetic test, it would tell you that you had about a 60% chance of her being your mother, and any sisters she had would come back with the same result. It would hold up in court, but technically she has about as much biological relation to you as a maternal aunt." He explained. I looked up at him and detected no lie in his voice. It did explain why we shared so many physical characteristics. "It's about a seventy/thirty genetic split. But, despite popular belief, Sarah Kinney didn't give birth to you. She did not pass the diagnostic tests to be able to give birth to you safely for either one of ya."
"What genetic defect did she have?" I asked, curious. I had always gone off what Dr. Sutter and Dr. Rice had told me. Dr. Kinney was not allowed to have intimate conversations with me, so she would have been unable to relay to me that she was my biological mother, but not my birth mother.
"Birth canal was too narrow. The pelvis wouldn't separate. You woulda got stuck in there and she would have bled out. Of course, they were more concerned with the fact that you would have asphyxiated before they could get you out." He said cocking his eyebrow "According to your medical records, you suffer from the same condition."
My head snapped up. I had never known that intimate detail about myself, but the fact that Sabretooth knew that about me before I did, did not surprise nor anger me. Most individuals that knew X-23 knew more about me than I did.
"Who gave birth to me?" I asked almost dreading the answer. I had convinced myself that my mother gave me some good in my soul, but if another person had birthed me; did I inherit their shortcomings?
"Kimaura" He said. He had something suspiciously close to pity in his eyes, but I did not care. The worst thing that I could ever have imagined had occurred to me.
"My mother is the woman who sawed off my arm and tortured me relentlessly since I was seven-years-old?" I asked calmly. Inside my head was tortured. Kimaura was my mother. This could only mean that I was evil if such a creature had given birth to me.
"Come on, princess don't act so shocked. I mean I really doubt Jimmy told you the whole story about Kinney and Kimaura, but he had to have told you something." He said and my head snapped up once more to look at him.
"Wolverine knew about this?" I asked. I felt what little bit of a heart I had developed breaking. I had begun to believe perhaps I was a person, but with the recent information, I felt my humanity slipping further away from me. I observed Sabretooth's shock with a masked face.
"He really didn't tell you?" he asked. He grabbed my chin and stroked my cheek with a single claw. "He calls you his daughter, yet he lies to you. Guess that's something he's good at."
I pulled away from him. Wolverine was my father; legally, biologically, and emotionally. How could he betray me in such a way? He had always promised that he would take care of me, love me. But his words regarding Rahne Sinclair after I had insulted her haunted me
"Shut up and listen! Rahne Sinclair has two things we'll never get back- hope and innocence. She's who we save. She's why we risk our lives. She's who we die for!"
"He loves you, princess. He must have been trying to protect you. He must have known how it would affect you." Said Sabretooth squatting down to my level. Why was he attempting to reconcile me with Wolverine's decision? From all the data I had been given on him, he hated Wolverine and never showed any affection for anyone not even his own son, the anti-mutant politician Graydon Creed.
"'Sinclair is more important than you or me. Our lives are worth nothing compared to hers.'" I said a tear slipping from beneath my eyes. That surprised me. I usually had complete control of my bodily functions. Sabretooth caught the tear on his claw and he looked at me with full pity in his eyes.
"What did you say?" He asked in a gentle growl. He tentatively put his arms around me and pulled me to him. I replayed my conversation with him over and over in my head.
"He loves Rahne Sinclair more than me, He loves Jubilee more than me, he loves Kitty Pryde more than me, and he even loves Megan Gwynn more than me!" I screamed in anguish, burying my face against Sabretooth's bare chest, finally letting loose years of frustration against Wolverine flow out of my body. "He knew that I was at that Facility since I was seven-year-old and he left me there! He knew I was alone in San Francisco and he left me there! He knew where I was when Kimaura abducted me and he left me there!"
Sabretooth seemed unsettled by my froth of emotion, but he continued to hold me crooning softly in my ear. Finally, when I had regained control of my emotions I looked up at him. He stared into my eyes for a moment before he slanted his mouth over mine, kissing me roughly. I quickly pushed him away.
"You have people that love you here. I could feel it in Foley's body. He would die for you. And no matter what they say, Keller and Kincaid miss you. Kincaid's been a damn zombie since she told you to get away from her, and Keller has been the epitome of anti-social behavior. Hell, when Frost found out what Summers made you do she slapped him and called him a "baby-killer"" he said trying to convince me "Worthington wants to do some very kinky yet loving things to you, ya know. And Domino wants to take care of you so bad she can't stand it."
I looked into his eyes. Was I blind to all the people who wanted so desperately to love me? I looked up at Sabretooth and touched his face gently. He was maybe the one person who would ever understand my pain.
"We will discuss this later. Right now we must go and stop Kimaura." I said standing and going to the door, punching in the security code. "Come on, I will get some of Warpath's clothes. They should fit you."
I could see him sigh audibly as he hauled himself up. In only his underwear, I could see his physique in a new light, it was slightly attractive. Incorrect. I should not be thinking such thoughts. I was in a relationship with Josh. I should not think of other men in such a way. Then I remembered Josh's threat.
"I must go to bed long enough to convince my boyfriend not to raise the alarm." I said putting my hand on his chest. He growled. He did not like the thought of anyone else owning me. He grabbed me by my throat and pulled me off my feet until I was eye level with him. Considering the fact that I was five-foot three, it was a significant height difference.
"You are mine. I won't debate that with you right now because we have a mission to complete, but remember this: every touch and kiss he gives you are ones stolen from me, and I don't like people who steal from me." He said whispering against the shell of my ear. "You have one hour to meet me on the balcony with the clothes."
He dropped me and walked away. I slowly got to my feet and considered what he was saying. I could not allow him to hurt Josh; he was the only person in my entire life who truly and totally loved me. I slowly trudged up the stairs and went into the room I shared with Josh against Wolverine's wishes.
Josh was awake and reading one of his giant medical textbooks. He looked up as I walked in and closed the door.
"I was starting to get worried. You know I've been researching Sabretooth's wounds and compared them to Wolverine's healing factor. Even though he only has a fraction of it, Sabretooth should have been able to heal himself by now, especially since he had outside help." He said as I crossed the room to remove my uniform. He smiled appreciatively as my pants and top hit the floor. I pulled on one of his overly large tee shirts and crawled into bed. He stared at me oddly.
"What is it, Josh?" I asked trying desperately trying to hide my fear and pain from him. I knew that I would fail at that. He always seemed to know when something was bothering me.
"Usually you would be able to give me some sort of plausible explanation. Are you okay?" he asked. I knew I had to distract him. I kissed him deeply, plunging my tongue into his mouth. I heard his sound of surprise as he resisted for a moment, but he eventually joined in. I separated after a moment to look into his surprised and amused expression. "What was that for?"
"For loving me" I answered truthfully cupping his face in my hands. "Josh if you knew something bad about me, something unforgiveable, would you still love me?"
"Laura, there is nothing that you could ever do that could make me stop loving you" he answered. I almost cried when his scent didn't change proving he was telling the truth.
"Do you promise me?" I asked feeling the unwanted tears sliding down my face. He cupped my face in his hands, gently wiping away my tears.
"I, Joshua Foley, promise to love you, Laura Kinney, for the rest of my life. No matter what you might do." He said gently kissing me.
"Thank-you, Josh" I said pushing away from him "I am tired. We will need all of our rest if we are to continue with Sabretooth's treatment tomorrow."
He smiled and laid down again wrapping his arms around my waist. As usual, he fell asleep right away, his snoring loud and obnoxious. It drowned out the silence that allowed my nightmares to fester. I carefully and quickly got out of the bed and packed a quick bag full of clothes. I slipped on my skinny jeans and purple tank top quickly and then laced up my combat boots. I slipped on my X-Men belt and leather coat that Gambit had given me and finally pinned up my hair in a bun. As an afterthought I slipped on the locket my sister Megan had given me.
"Laura… I love you…" I heard and I turned toward the bed. Josh was still fast asleep. I smiled and bent over his unconscious form to kiss him on the forehead.
"I love you too" I said before grabbing my backpack and heading out the door, careful not to make too much noise so I wouldn't wake him. I stopped by Warpath's room and went to his drawers. I quickly grabbed an X-Men tee-shirt and a pair of his jeans and one of his belts. As an afterthought, I grabbed a pair of his boots. I barely missed the knife flying at my head.
"Who's there?" growled a voice from the bed. James Proudstar. I had forgotten about his super senses. Damn.
"It is me, James. I am getting some clothes for Sabretooth to wear tomorrow. Josh and I predict that he will be fully conscious by tomorrow. I am sorry for awaking you" I said putting on my best smile. He stared at me for a moment before cracking a smile and sighing.
"God, Laura, you scared the crap out of me! Next time you can just ask!" he said sounding profoundly relieved it was just me. "Go to bed. Josh won't go to sleep until you do"
I smiled and nodded "Thank-you, James. I will see you in the morning" I quickly lied exiting quickly as I saw James Proudstar turning on his side to go back to sleep.
I quickly navigated to the balcony where I was greeted with the sight of Sabretooth in his underwear only glaring at me. I quickly threw the clothes at him which he quickly put on.
"I thought I said an hour." He growled while lacing up his own boots. I frowned.
"I had to get past everyone. People in this house are very used to defending themselves in the middle of the night" I explained. Sabretooth growled and smelled my hair as I came close.
"I can smell him on you" he hissed. I didn't even blink. I would not leave without saying good-bye to Josh and I would not apologize for it.
"Get over it" I said quoting Cessily. His eyebrows shot toward the skies revealing his surprise. He quickly turned away and jumped on the balcony rail.
"We need to get going. We have a limited amount of time before Kimaura finishes maturing and inseminating your eggs. Let's go." He said jumping off the balcony and expecting me to follow. I looked back toward the house which held the two men I cared most about in the entire world. The man I loved and my father, who even though he had betrayed me, I still loved more than life itself.
"I am sorry everyone." I whispered feeling one final tear escaping my eye before I jumped onto the railing to follow Sabretooth. "I love you, Josh… and you too, Daddy".
Author's Note: Okay, I love love love this pairing! No one ever seems to put them together and it depressed me. I put her with Josh in the beginning because I wanted to give Laura someone she could compare Victor to. I also wanted to give Laura someone she felt she could constantly lean on (plus maybe a little bit of a love triangle). Believe it or not, Logan will actually betray Laura much more than he already has. Will her love extend that far? (When you're thinking of what Sabretooth might look like, think more X-Men Origins: Wolverine).